Overhead cranes are commonly used in manufacturing and other industrial applications. An overhead crane is installed on parallel runways usually tied to a building structure. The crane has a bridge spanning across the gap of the runways, a trolley that traverses across the bridge and a hoist on the trolley that can move up or down and can lift objects. Overhead cranes, of this type, can be operated remotely using a master controller unit to lift and displace heavy objects.
In some situations, it is desirable to use multiple cranes to lift an object. For instance, when an object is too large to be lifted by a single trolley and hoist, two or more trolleys or hoists may be used. For example, a single bridge can have two trolleys where each of the trolleys has a single hoist, while in other cases the multiple cranes may consist of two bridges each with a trolley and a hoist.
In general, the task of controlling multiple cranes is more challenging for the operator than controlling a single crane. Therefore, there is a need in the industry for providing a user friendly system and method allowing to link the master controller unit of the operator to respective cranes, in a secure fashion to prevent inadvertently actuating a crane other than the one the operator intends to control.